Rigid foundation handbags with interchangeable outer components



Nov. 15,1955

RIGID FOUNDATION HANDBAGS KASE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE OUTER COMPONENTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1955 INVENTOR c rwzgq jL ase BY ALLMW 7 ATTORNEY FIG.4

Nov. 15, 1955 I. KASE 2,723,696

RIGID FOUNDATION HANDBAGS WITH INTERCHANGEABLE OUTER COMPONENTS Filed July 9, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY LVN A79 fase ATTORNEY Nov. 15, 1955 l. KASE 2,723,696

RIGID FOUNDATION HANDBAGS WITH INTERCHANGEABLE OUTER COMPONENTS Filed July 9, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 mum uuluph ml INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 2,723,696 Patented Nov. 15, 1955 RIGID FOUNDATION HANDBAGS WITl-I INTER- CHANGEABLE OUTER COMPONENTS This invention relates to ladieshandbags.

Broadly, it is an object of the invention to provide a rigid inner shell member with embedded female snap fasteners which can be rapidly covered with detachable and interchangeable coverings.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide two types of rigid inner shell members having female snap fasteners embedded therein having removable and interchangeable coverings and removable and interchangeable handles. v

A further object is to provide removable handles which act as both handles and partial covering members for the inner shell.

The modern woman likes to have her handbagmatch or harmonize with her dress and other accessories. Many women cannot afford a different. handbag for each dress and in many instances there is not suflicient room in the average city apartment to store many handbags. It is therefore, desirable to provide a handbag of the types above described so that a woman can readily interchange the coverings upon the rigid inner shell to match the dress being worn. The use of the rigid inner shell with interchangeable coverings also avoids removal of the contents of the handbag thus saving time and annoyance when the handbag being used is changed.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference is had to the following detailed description in connection with the'accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the inner rigid shell or base member.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of part of the one outer covering representing the combined back, top and closure flap.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the combined front and opposed sides, showing the detachable handle, partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the handbag in completed form, that is with the detachable covering attached to the rigid inner shell member.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a modified hingable type of handbag comprising two rigid members hinged along one edge and opposed interchangeable and removable outer coverings.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an outer covering which may be applied to the hingable rigid inner shell shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a complete handbag around the inner hingable rigid unit shown in Fig. 5 with the outer covering shown in Fig. 5 and a two part handle.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of another modified handbag.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one half of an outer covering.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 represents a unitary rigid inner shell preferably made of a clear plastic. Of course, the shell 10 may be made of rigid plastic members adhered together to form the unit as shown in Fig. 1

Other well known rigid materials such as wood and the;

like may also be used for the inner shell. I prefer, how ever, to form the inner shell 10 of plastic formed by injection molding so that the female snap fasteners shown in the drawing may be positioned automatically in their proper positions because of the structure ofv the dies.

The inner shell 10 may be covered by one or more sets of outer coverings or interchangeable parts, one set of which has been shown for the purpose of illustration. The back 11 of inner shell 10 has four female snap fasteners 12 embedded therein. Fig. 2 shows a combined back 13, top 14 and front flap 15, the back 13 having four male snap fasteners 16 attached thereto and spaced to coincide with the spacing of the female snap fasteners 12 so that the back 13 may be attached to the back 11 of the inner shell 10.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a combined unit comprising a front 17 and opposed sides 18, to the sides of which a handle 19 may be attached. The front 20 of the inner shell 10 has a pair of female snap fasteners 21 embedded in the position shown in Fig. l and the sides 22 each have a single snap fastener 23 embedded therein. The unit shown in Fig. 3 may be readily attached to the front 20 and sides 22 of the inner shell 10 by snapping the 1 male fasteners 24 of the front 17 into the female fasteners 21 of the front 20 and snapping the male fasteners 25 into the female fasteners 23 of sides 22. The front flap 15 has thefemale part 26 of a well known catch which may be readily attached to the male portion 27 of the catch attached to the front 17. While I have shown a turnable catch well known in the art, any known catch commonly used on handbags may be used in place of the catch shown.

The sides 18 each also have a female snap fastener 28 to which may be attached the complementary male snap fastener 29 which are attached to the ends of the handle 19. Fig. 4 shows the outer coverings and handle shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in position upon the shell shown in Fig. 1. The outer coverings shown in Figs. 2 and 3 may be of leather or different forms of plastic material or fabric of different types and may be lined or unlined depending upon the quality and price of the handbag. Of course, the lining may be of contrasting or harmonious colorings with the outer color or design of the outer face of the material used for the outer covering It is within the scope of the invention to provide many fabrics or sets of coverings of the form shown in Figs.

2 and 3 so that a woman may readily detach the outer coverings from the inner shell shown in Fig. 1 and attach another set of outer coverings in place thereof. Indeed, she may use the back top and flap portion shown in Fig. 2 of one set with the unit shown in Fig. 3 of another set and possibly a handle from a third set so that she can vary the color scheme and materials of the bag at will and to harmonize or contrast with the colors of the dress or accessories used. It is evident that it takes but a few moments to detach and attach the said outer coverings and handle since the cooperating fastening elements are predeterminably positioned.

By the use of the rigid inner shell shown in Fig. 1 a woman need not empty the contents within the shell and still rapidly change the color scheme of her handbag. Furthermore, should one portion of the outer covering wear more rapidly than another, such worn portion may be replaced for the cost of only that part and the entire handbag need not be discarded. It is also evident that the worn part may be entirely discarded and a similar portion used from a set of another color scheme or other materials.

It is also evident that by the use of a single inner shell such as is shown in Fig. 1 the equivalent of many bags becomes available, saving not only the cost of several handbags but also space which is much needed in the average modern apartment.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the inner shell 30 shown in Fig. comprises two rigid box-like members 31, 32 hinged together at the meeting edges of the base. Each member 31, 32 comprises a bottom 33, 34, opposed sides 35, 36 fronts 37 and backs 38. Members 31, 32 are held together by gussets 39, 40 which act as stops and sides when the inner members 31, 32 are in open position as shown in Fig. 5. Gussets 39, 40 may be of fabric or plastic material, such as vinyl and may be accordion pleated and may be attached to the inner portion of sides 35, 36 by any well known means such as welding by heat and pressure or permanently bonded, if plastic is used.

Bottoms 33, 34 have predeterminedly spaced female snap fasteners 41 embedded therein to coact with male snap fasteners 42 attached to outer covering 43. Likewise fronts 37 also have female snap fasteners 44 embedded therein to coact with male snap fasteners 45 attached to the fronts 46 of the outer covering. The outer covering 43 comprises bottoms 47 and fronts 46 formed of a unitary piece of material creased adjacent the upper edge sothat it folds over edge 48. Fronts 37 have a catch 49 which may be of any well known type commonly used in handbags, the fronts 46 of the outer covering having suitable cutouts to accommodate any projections of the catch 49 appearing above the face of the fronts 37. It can be readily seen that the outer coverings 43 can be easily attached to the inner shell box-like members 31, 32 by the coacting snap fasteners 41, 42 and 44, 45. The opposed sides 35, 36 also have spaced apart female snap fasteners 51 embedded therein so that a pair of handles 52 may be attached to sides 35, 36 by male snap fasteners attached to the end portions of the handles 52 as shown in Fig. 7, such end portions of handles 52 act as side coverings for the sides 35 of the inner shell.

In place of outer coverings 43 shown in Figs. 5 and 7 aunitary member, as shown in Fig. 6 may be used which is in all respects the same as outer coverings 43 except that the lower edges merge into a back 54 which acts as an outer covering for the backs 38 of the inner shell.

The outer covering shown in Fig. 6 may be formed with split end wings 56 as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, such end wings may have male snaps 57 to coact with female snaps 51. When such an outer covering is used for the inner shell shown in Fig. 5, a-pair of handles 58 may have the ends thereof attached by snap female fasteners 60 to the opposed bottoms 59 which have complementary male snap fasteners 61. The back 62 also has male snap fasteners 63 to coact with female snap fasteners (not shown) on the backs 38 of the shell 30.

It can be seen that this type of handbag has all the advantages of the handbag shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inelusive and the outer coverings may be disengaged from the inner shell shown in Fig. 5 and outer coverings of other materials and designs substituted. Handles of different types, materials, colors and designs may be used in connection with various kinds of outer coverings to vary the appearance and color scheme of the handbag.

It is obvious that the rigid inner shell in the two types shown, viz., the type shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and Figs. 5 to 7, may be varied in proportion and size without departing from the general spirit of the invention.

I claim:

A ladys handbag comprising a unitary inner open top plastic rigid shell, said shell comprising a bottom, opposed sides, a front and a back, female snap fasteners embedded in said sides, front and back of said shell, outer coverings for'said inner shell, said coverings comprising a combined back, top and front flap, and a combined front and opposed sides, one portion of a catch on said front flap and a coacting catch portion on said front of said covering, male snap fasteners on said back, front and side coverings for attachment to said female snap fasteners on the respective parts of said inner shell, a handle having snap fasteners at the ends thereof for attachment to complementary snap fasteners on the opposed sides of said covering.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,526,839 Dempsey Feb. 17, 1925 1,990,360 Anish Feb. 5, 1935 2,093,097 Potash Sept. 14, 1937 2,116,902 Lehrfeld May 10, 1938 2,131,382 Lobel Sept. 27, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 548,626 France Oct. 28, 1922 

